Deliveries of the 180-seat Boeing 737-900ER jets will begin
in 2013, Atlanta-based Delta said today in a statement. Separate
talks with Embraer and Bombardier have been delayed until at
least 2012, a person familiar with the matter said yesterday.

Winning the Delta deal is a boost for Boeing after losing
its exclusive ties to American Airlines in July as that carrier
split a 460-plane order between Chicago-based Boeing and Airbus
SAS. Delta had flown only Boeings until adding hundreds of
planes from Toulouse, France-based Airbus when it bought
Northwest Airlines in 2008.

“This should relieve some fear of market-share loss” to
Airbus and its new A320neo narrow-body jet, Robert Spingarn, a
Credit Suisse analyst in New York, said today in a note to
clients. “But upcoming orders remain a focus.”

The Boeing purchase will allow Delta to keep its annual
capital expenditures from $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion over the
next three years, and the carrier said it will take 12 to 19
aircraft a year starting in 2013. Airlines typically negotiate
discounts from list prices.

“A key component of Delta’s strategy is making prudent
investments for the future while maintaining our financial and
capacity discipline,” Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson
said in the statement.

Embraer, Bombardier Talks

Delta will use the new jets to replace some of its oldest
and least-efficient planes such as Boeing 757s and MD-88s that
are 20 or more years old. The 737s will have CFM56-7BE engines,
with a total list value of $2.2 billion, that are made by CFM
International. CFM is a joint venture between General Electric
Co. and France’s Safran SA.

Discussions with Embraer and rival Bombardier advanced this
year while Delta negotiated with Boeing and Airbus for the
larger planes, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak
publicly. The Boeing deal was described earlier this week by
people familiar with that purchase.

Embraer and Bombardier are trying to create a niche for
jets smaller than those from Airbus and Boeing. Single-aisle
planes from Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil-based Embraer or
Montreal-based Bombardier would complement Delta’s mainline
fleet of Boeing and Airbus narrow-body planes.

Delta fell 42 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $6.83 at 4:15 p.m.
in New York Stock Exchange composite trading, while Boeing
dropped 59 cents to $61.10.